Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Writing a Novel

You know and I know Vincent Zandri. If you like reading noir/hard boiled steeped in the dark side of possibility, then you've read this guy.He's that kind of writer who goes out and does a lot of research before he sits down to sling words around on a computer screen. Maybe its because of his gigs as a news reporter he worked, and still works occasionally , which ingrained this first step into him. Who knows . . .All I know is if you want to read one hell of a gripping novel, read one of his.So it occurred to me . . . . . hmmm. How does this guy go about writing a book? And wouldn't it be kinda of freaky tapping into this resource and extracting the messy details out of him for all of us to see. So . . . what the hell. I asked if he'd be willing to step into the confessional and rip his guts out for us. Surprise! He agreed! (and I owe him big time for that.)So without further ado, let's get into the interview. You're gonna love it!

1. Okay, I'm ready to pick your brains, my friend. I want to
know what makes you tick when it comes to writing a novel. So first question;
how do you choose a story? Does a feeling come over you that makes you want to
write? Or does a story/plot idea grab you by the collar of your shirt with both
hands and slaps you around like some B-movie mobster first before you take
notice?

It’s a strange process
and one I’m not always in charge of. I’ve had situations where I’ve thought a
book through for more than a year before I started writing it, like The Concrete
Pearl for instance. I knew the ending to this book and the beginning, but I had
no real way of knowing what was going to happen in between until I finally
started on it. Even after thinking about for all that time, it was a tough one
to write. Maybe because I was so close to the subject, which is corruption in
the commercial construction industry, and having grown up in the family
construction business, it might have been over researched.

But then there are
stories that flash into my brain and grab me instantly, like when I’m getting
coffee at the local bodega for instance, and I set to work on them immediately
without thinking about what’s going to happen. That’s a magical thing. If all
goes well, before you know it, five or six weeks will have passed and I’ll have
a full first draft of a novel. It’s entirely spontaneous and wonderful, like
meeting a beautiful woman while taking a coffee as a small bar in Florence.

Moonlight Rises was that
way. My wife and I had split up at the time and I was a little out of sorts
because she was dating, as was I. In order to deal with this, I wondered what
would happen if my character Dick Moonlight died suddenly, and she came to his
side while he lie on his deathbed. I pictured the scene in my mind a hundred
times over the course of one single cup of coffee: Moonlight lying on his back
and his ex, Lola coming to say her final goodbyes. Only, while doing so, her
new boyfriend comes into the picture. Moonlight, having just passed is watching
all this from up above his body while he has his out-of-body experience. What
happens? He gets so mad, he forces himself back into his body so he can kick
said boyfriend’s ass…Moonlight Rises!!!

In the end, the
stories choose us, not the other way around. I do however subscribe to the
farmer policy, in that I switch crops now and again. If I’m just getting of a
hard-boiled thriller like The Guilty, which I just completed or Murder by
Moonlight, then I’m apt to try something in a different vein, like my new
action adventure series CHASE.

2. Specifically, what are the key components in a story that
must come together first before your convinced this story will work as a novel?
Are your novels always based off stories from the outside world? Or does an idea
slowly begin to build from within, piece by piece, until it reveals itself as a
full fledged masterpiece?

I go both ways. Murder
by Moonlight is very much based on the true story of Bethlehem, NY axe
murderer, Chris Porco, and I knew I had no choice but to structure an intricate
fiction around the existing non-fiction. This is a case where you research
enough material to make you plenty hard, and then you stop and go about the
business of literary copulation. It also keeps you guessing as a novelist and
not bound by any fences or Stop signs. In my case, I was able to explore many
scenarios and possibilities the cops could never explore in the real case. In
the end, I’m not convinced the kid did it alone. I guess you could say that in
some ways, “Murder” is my Norman Mailer, “New Journalism” novel.

Then there are novels
that begin with a character I want to create. I don’t write notes. Like Capote,
I allow the character to take up space in my brain for a while. If he or she
sticks around long enough, I know I’m going to write a book for them, bring
them to life if you will. My new CHASE series was created like that. For months
I was walking around Italy thinking about a character names Chase Baker, who is
both a novelist and an adventurer. He lives in New York and Florence, but he
also travels the world, on occasion doing some tomb raiding as a sandhog, which
was his original profession. The sandhogging makes him some good money but also
provides the basis for some of the novels he writes. That in mind, I travelled
to Egypt this past October and got plenty good material for the book. I wrote
the first draft in five weeks.

3. Fitting characters to a story; how does that take shape?
Do you pull characters out and expand upon them from a real crime story? Or do
you build a character to fit a story?

Sometimes neither.
Sometimes both. Obviously, Dick Moonlight is a carefully designed character who
has a small piece of 22 cal. bullet in his brain which could kill him at any
moment. Therefore all the Moonlight novels are written around this circumstance
which can make for some fun plotting. Especially when he dies and must be
resurrected yet again!! That’s why those novels are so fun to write and to
read. You never know what’s going to happen and in a sense, anything can and
will happen.

In other instances,
like my very popular stand-alone, The Remains, I wanted to write about
identical twins who were abducted when they were pre-teens, which required some
research into how twins function. That research helped develop the plot and in
some ways determined the plot and overall story. It also features an autistic
savant oil painter, so I had to be careful how I treated that character. Unlike
the Moonlight books, anything can’t happen that wouldn’t happen in real life.
You following me here?

4. Continuing on with the character development angle;
writers who write a continuing character . . . a series featuring one or more
characters . . . does this limit a writer's imagination or enhances it? Why do
you think many publishers prefer a writer developing a continuing character?

I don’t think it
limits anything. If anything, you get to explore more of your character as he
grows and changes and ages. Unlike the Spenser novels or even the Mike Hammers,
I try and age my serial characters as the years fly by. I think if you make
them real like that, have them experience what it’s like to turn 45 or 50, for
instance, it makes for an more interesting novel. You can’t do what you did at
25 at 50 even if you’re in top shape, so that makes for interesting writing.

Publishers like
serials because, if they’re good, you build more and more of an audience with
each book published, which is happening with my Moonlight series, and also my
Jack Marconi books. As a writer, however, I feel you can become almost too
comfortable by concentrating too much on serial writing. Which is why I try and
write a stand-alone every two or three books. Keeps you sharp as an artist and
keeps life interesting.

5. Writing habits; when you're knee deep in writing on a
project, do you carve out a block of time each day to write? Do you set
deadlines on the amount of words that must be produced? Or do you use a
when-the-mood-hits-me approach? Are there advantages/disadvantages to either
approach? And most important of all, do you do a lot of research before you
write? Or while you're writing?

I’m a disciplined
writer. I write every day, two hours in the morning and two hours in the
afternoon. I keep the schedule no matter what, even when I’m overseas. The most
time I’ve ever taken off over the past twenty years is a week. As for the
research, depending upon the project, I study what I have to in order to get
started. Then I might do a little more as I go, strictly on a as needed basis.
In general, I might outline the first few chapters, but I rely on the story to
form organically as it goes. However, I also make sure to end in a place where
I can be sure to carry on the next day. Papa Hemingway did the same thing way
back when and it’s some of the best advice you can pass on to a young writer.
Never shoot your entire load in a single sitting. By the way, one of my hugest
fans is Ernest Hemingway’s great granddaughter, Mia Hemingway. I think there’s
something very humbling about that.

6. Traditional publishing versus ebook publishing? How has
this conflict changed, if any, the writing process? Should books, page number
wise, be longer or shorter if writing for ebook publishers only? Should there
be a different style in the writing between the two? Are there any differences
between those who prefer reading traditionally compared to those who have gone
electronic?

In the words of Jim
Harrison who was recently asked more or less the same question, “Who gives a
shit?” So long as I am writing the stories I want to write and people are
reading them either on paper or on a screen or listening to them on audio, it
really doesn’t matter because my job is always the same. I get up, make the
coffee, sit down to a blank page.

7. Last question. How much success have you seen since
you've gone the ebook route? What are you writing on now? Any news about
possible movie options? Television series options? Don't be shy . . . tell us
everything that is on your plate currently.

My success with ebooks
is widely known, and for some reason I’m being written up by the likes
Publishers Weekly and being interviewed by the New York Times as this huge indy
and self-publishing success. But the fact of the matter is this: I’ve never
self-published a novel in my life, and there are far great success stories out
there than me. LJ Sellers, for example. I guess I’m lumped into the “hybrid
author” category since ebook publishing is almost entirely based on the
self-publishing model. That’s fine with me. I refer back to the previous
question. Who gives a shit how it’s published or the business model under which
you are contracted? The point is to write great books and to earn a readership
who will follow you forever or longer.

There is indeed some
movie play, yet again. Craven Films has been showing interest. Also Mel
Gibson’s company, Icon. But I never hold my breath in these circumstances. I
leave it all up to my agent Chip MacGregor. Right now I’m finishing my first
CHASE novel. I’ve also just finished book three in the Marconi series, The
Guilty. Thomas & Mercer is bringing out the fifth (or is it sixth?)
Moonlight novel, Moonlight Sonata in the late Fall of ’13 or early Winter ’14.
And did I just say I’ve never self-published. Well, I’m in the process of
staring my own label, Bear Media, so that I can finally put out a couple of my
own novels. I’m not sure how it’s going to go, and I suppose that in the end,
if it doesn’t work out, I can go to a traditional publisher with the work. But for
now I want to experiment a little with being both author and publisher of at
least a small selection of my own work. It should prove to be an adventure at
the very least. And I think that’s what life should be all about. The
adventure.

Frank Morales. The other half of the homicide detective team

The enigmatic Turner Hahn

The first Turner Hahn/Frank Morales novel

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About Me

I'm a fourteen year old boy trapped in a sixty year old body. The mind is willing--the body says, "Oh no. No, no, no!"
I'm married to a wonderfully patient woman, have three grown kids and five grandchildren of which, naturally, are the most brilliant and the most handsome in the world.